Saturday, September 4, 2010

Would you laugh at me if I told you that most of the "events" that end up making my day (or even my week) are food-related? It may be discovering the most amazing rhubarb vanilla bean jam at Borough Market when visiting my best friend in London. Or the addictive chewiness of NYC's speculoos spread leige waffles of Throwdown with Bobby Flay fame. While crossing state and even country lines with friends does tend to encourage food "eventfulness," it's by no means required.

The first bite of a straight-from-the-oven pizzookie with the perfect cookie-to-ice-cream ratio, for example, was a revelation right in my own kitchen. Even the humble neighborhood grocery can hold unexpected treasures, like these zebra eggplants. When I spied these the other week, I couldn't help but gasp out of admiration for Mother Nature's artistry. Best of all these beauties were mine for the same price as common eggplant. I anticipated (correctly) with some sadness that the stunning pattern would fade upon cooking. Still, if these eggplants could be made into a tasty enough dish, we'd at least be transforming one form of beauty into another, right?

Humbly, I say to you that this flavorful and relatively healthy tart does justice to its ingredients. Eggplant gracefully shares the spotlight with plum tomatoes as well as smoked mozzarella and feta cheeses. And that's just the filling. A generous dose of freshly ground black pepper in the crust gives a little kick to every bite. Just enough to pull you back for another taste...and another. I did find the original recipe produced a slightly tough crust. A result, I suspect, of lowering the fat content excessively (to only 1 Tbsp?) in an attempt to healthify the tart. The recipe below includes my adjustments to the crust, but feel free to stick with the original recipe if you need to minimize your fat intake for health reasons. Even with my nitpick, I enjoyed it so much that I had it for 3 meals in a row!

Now I'm looking at you, my readers. Please tell me, what are the vegetables that get you excited? And what delightful dishes do you make from them?

XIAOLU'S NOTES: I loved the flavor of this crust, but had textural issues. Though I've modified the recipe to fix those problems, you're welcome to use your favorite savory tart crust recipe instead. Just add 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper to the dry ingredients. For the filling, make sure to slice your eggplant no thinner than 1/4" thick. I sliced a bit too thinly, which resulted in them being slightly dry when baked. The original recipe also called for salting the eggplant. To save time, I've skipped that step but as a result it's important to use fresh eggplant so that it doesn't impart a bitter taste.

To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (flour through 1/4 teaspoon salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk; make a well in center of mixture. Add 2 tablespoons of water and all the oil, stirring to form a soft dough. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed to make the dough come together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times. Gently press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover and chill 15 minutes.

Slightly overlap 2 sheets of plastic wrap on a slightly damp surface. Unwrap dough, and place chilled dough on plastic wrap. Cover with 2 additional sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into an 11-inch circle. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap. Fit dough, plastic-wrap side up, into a 10-inch round removable-bottom tart pan coated with cooking spray. Remove remaining plastic wrap. Press dough against bottom and sides of pan. Pierce bottom and sides of dough with a fork; bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons smoked mozzarella and all the feta on bottom of baked crust. Layer eggplant and tomato mixture in crust, and top with 6 tablespoons smoked mozzarella and parmesan. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Cut into 8 wedges.

I definitely agree with that -- it's food-related stuff that excites me too! The eggplant is so pretty, it looks like a masterpiece. When you paired it with smoked mozzarella in this tart I knew it was the perfect use for it! One of the veggies that excite me the most is fresh tomatoes...they're just not the same the rest of the year!

Both the eggplant and the tart are beautiful. The cheese all over the eggplant and tomatoes is definitely making my mouth water. Come to think of it, eggplant and tomatoes make me excited probably more than any other produce. When they're plump and glossy, I can't help myself! Also, I crave broccoli on a regular basis and don't care if that makes me sound weird.

Ah, thank you for the post about the wonders of foodie-ness! (Beautiful pictures, too, by the way.) As for vegetables, I get really geeked up about carrots. Eating a good carrot with a nice, intense and sweet flavor just makes me smile everytime. And roasted carrots? The best!

yesterday i brought home some fresh corn, which are always beautiful, but when i took a bite into it, i was in heaven! it was so perfectly sweet and i put NOTHING on it, it was magically perfect as it was :) loooove

Breathtaking photos! The recipe sounds delicious to. For me any fruit or vegetable that is in season and sitting on my grocer's self looking ready to eat gets me excited. I love fresh in season ingredients.

Chanel - Yea I wouldn't have thought to without the recipe but it worked out really well luckily!

Joanne - Oh cool, that name makes sense too though I must say I like the sound of "zebra". Sounds wilder hehe. Uh oh, the orange veggies have arrived. Can't wait to see all the ways you use them up!

Faith - Ah yes, I'm going to miss the lovely summer tomatoes too!

smalltownoven - Thanks! Don't worry, I love broccoli as well. And those cruciferous veggies are so good for your health too.

Leemei - Oh yes, the colorful vegetables make me happy as well. And are supposedly good for you with a variety of nutrients. I've never tasted the purple cauliflower but have wanted to for a long time.

Danielle - I actually haven't seen the spread sold here but I'm sure there are some specialty gourmet stores that have them. I wouldn't be surprised if the waffle cart people get it imported in bulk though.

It is so hard to pick one vegetable that gets me excited. But eggplant is one of my least favorite so eggplant will not get me as excited as the other veg. Love your savory take on tarts...just love the gorgeous tart you have made.

I won't laugh at you because I know exactly what you mean. :)I didn't know these were called zebra eggplants. These are very common here. I'm vegetarian, but somehow eggplant has not been one of faves.

Lots of vegetables get me excited, but what really makes my day is a visit to the fruit and vegetable market here. The sheer variety and colour is breathtaking.

those eggplants are a find. i can't get anything that nice at my supermarket. i don't know how to list just one veggie, but i'd have to say my all-time fave is Brussels sprouts. i tried them on a pizza recently and have been meaning to try to replicate that at home.

Hi, i like your blog, it's full of beautifully taken photos!!! yummy!! are you Chinese? I am Chinese, i am a foodie and food photography junkie:) i also have a blog, welcome to check it out! i hope we can be friends and share passion of food and photography:)

Swooned when I saw this tart shot on Flickr, and now swooning over the graffiti eggplant pix. So very pretty, Xiaolu!

I'm a big fan of eggplant; baba ganoush is my go-to, but I use the solid purples, blacks, or whites. These stripey beauties deserve not to have their skins charred.

Rhubarb vanilla jam sounds yum. You'd asked some weeks ago why I added vanilla bean at end to my plum jam recipe. It was b/c too much heat can degrade the(pricey)bean; wanted to use it again elsewhere. Jam was so tart-sweet, not even sure if vanilla was discernible - so call it a garnish. ; D

Wow, this tart looks simply amazing...what a great way to showcase delicious veggies! At the moment I'm getting excited about green beans and doing lots of roasting and tossing with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. :)

Those are indeed some gorgeous eggplants! And I love what you did with them. Many of the things I get excited about are food related too so I can definitely understand! :) As for the vegetables I get excited about... English peas and heirloom tomatoes! Those are the first two that came to mind.

This tart looks absolutely amazing- I would love to eat this right now! I definitely get excited about vegetables....sometimes when I'm at the bar and all my friends are craving chicken wings and nachos, I'll be the one saying "I just wanna go home and eat veggies". Everyone looks at me like I'm nuts haha!

Oh Wow! Those eggplants are so pretty... I can never resist buying them up when I see them at the fruit & veg store looking so shinny and totally edible!! This dish looks amazing... I love the addition of pepper in the crust, super de-lici-ous!!

Hello, this is the first time i am visiting your blog. My compliments to your bold red blog! Very confident and it sets off all your gorgeous photos really beautifully! This is definitely a beautiful dish and I am now inspired to cook with the egg plant :)

First of all, I'm in love with that knife? From the family or an antique store? Second, leeks and celeriac get me excited b/c I rarely get to work with them. Leeks are braised in butter and cream to folded into slow-scrambled eggs, while the celeriac is julienned and mixed with homemade mayonnaise, mustard, yogurt, lemon juice and salt for celeri remoulade.

Heather - I can't remember if I answered your question by email. Sorry if I never did! I bought the a bunch of 10 similar wooden knives like this one at an antique store for 10 bucks. Mmm your leek and celeriac dishes sound rich and delicious!